Assessment is a part of teaching that just has to happen. But that does not mean that we can’t make it fun for our students. Today we are going to talk about assessment and using fun apps to help our students be excited when it’s time to take that test. I love when my students think we are just playing a game. But really, it is an assessment, and I am getting lots of data about how my students are doing. It also means less grading for me, which I love!
The first app and website that we are going to talk about is Kahoot. Have you heard of this app before? My students love when I say we are going to play Kahoot. They think of this as a game instead of an assessment. The one thing that is a little challenging with this app is that the questions appear on the main screen at the front of the room from the teacher’s device and the students devices only have the answer choices. I usually read the questions to my students so it isn’t too much of a problem. With this app, have fun creating your own Kahoot with your own questions, or just play one that is already created from another teacher. You can use this app for any subject that you are teaching.
The next app is Quizizz. This is another favorite in my classroom. One thing that I love about this app is that you can assign it for independent work to your students. Each student can play the game on their own. It collects all the data on how your students did on the questions. This app can also be played as a whole class game. I love that the questions appear on the students devices as well as up on the main screen. This is a must try in your classroom!
The final app that we are going to talk about is Quizlet. This app and website is my absolute favorite. I love that my students can practice vocabulary for any subject that we are working on. There are several different activities that students can work on to practice the content that they are learning. I have even used this app when I was studying to get a second credential. This app also has a game version. The game for this app puts your students in groups and they work together to answer the questions. Each group gets the questions in a different order. Each student only has the answers to a few questions, rather than having all of the answers. This means that the students have to talk to each other to solve the questions so not one student can do all the work. This is a really fun app for practicing the content that is being learned so students are ready for their assessments. For this app to keep track of all your student’s data, you do have to get a premium account. But this app has so many other features that it’s ok not to have tons of data for this one. My students always beg to play this game over and over again. And I am always ok with that because it just means more and more practice for them.
Which one of these awesome apps are you going to give a try? Tell me in the comments which one you're most excited about! I can’t wait to hear from you!